LOOPHOLE FTW!

Problem being that unless being this Demi-God state also includes virtual omniscience, then in that state anyone (myself included) would likely do more harm than good. Thing is, we don't fully know what we should really do to fix this crazy world of ours, or even how that would be brought about. Yeah we've got a general idea, but the specifics elude us, and we often get caught in our own misconceptions.

For example, you used the idea of using those superpowers to rid the world of nukes. Well, therein lies a bit of problem. It is true that the nuclear bomb is the singular greatest weapon of destruction that humanity has ever conceived, but it's ironically done more to stop wars than start them. You see not only can nukes obliterate armies, but they have long-lasting consequences that can kill nations, long after the war is over. As such, people are terrified of them, and no one is willing to commit to a full scale invasion of another nation state that has them without a guarantee that they won't be used or a VERY good reason. Israel in particular is a textbook example of this. That country is surrounded by people who hate their government, and would attack them given half a chance. But they don't commit any true show of force against Israel because Israel is a nuclear superpower. No one is willing to risk losing the bulk of their military forces to that, or even worse, their cities, as it would either leave them open to counter-invasion (in case of the former) or all dead (in the latter). So if you were to take all the nukes away, suddenly the middle east becomes a free-fire zone. So by taking away the nukes, you've somehow made the situation far worse.

And I would also argue that the existence of nukes has done a lot to evolve military doctrines from the the wide-scale assaults of yesteryear to the far more precise measures we have today (you know, why send in a whole wing of bombers to destroy a military target by blowing down the entire area when you can fire a couple of Tomahawk missiles and effectively destroy the same target with little to no collateral damage (within user error of course)), mostly because by being so precise, they reduce the likelyhood of nukes being used in an engagement by reducing the actual conflict down to the bare bones players.

So you see how something that at first seems so simply cna get very complicated very quickly.

There also exists another problem in that 1 week is nowhere near enough to create any lasting changes. So you destroy all the guns in the world. Ok, everybody is going to build more once you're gone. So then you destroy the gun making factories. They just build more once you're gone. Then you try and prevent them form being able to do that, and now you're in the infrastructure-breaking zone, which could cause even more damage. So yeah, a week just wouldn't cut it. Although it isn't helped by the fact that you choose a super-powered being who really only has destructive powers, rather than one that could be used to create.

Although although all of this is rendered rather moot if someone decides to go the "non-good" route for that week (and I still say a week is WAY too short)

Aside:

"Personally I'm not the least bit afraid of death"

Uh, have you ever actually had to be in a situation where you were forced to face your own demise? Because if you haven't I highly doubt your statement.

Yep. This entire question is based around being the most powerful Superman and then dying. But as the most powerful Superman you can utterly defy the rules of any such "What If?" scenario through innumerable means. Simply put, you'd be immortal and would never lose the powers and never die if you're remotely creative...and possibly also if you're not creative at all and TRY to die, though an argument can be made that the premise of this scenario invalidates the auto-survive features.

Uh, have you ever actually had to be in a situation where you were forced to face your own demise? Because if you haven't I highly doubt your statement.

If you have though, carry on.

I have. I was in...danger for a time there. VERY high blood pressure. A nurse warned me that if I didn't lower my blood pressure NOW I was in dire danger of having a stroke/heart attack and dying any day now.

Coming face to face with my own mortality was a sobering affair.

The only regret I'd have if I died would be that I'm the primary helper for taking care of my rather feeble elderly mother.

Death...death itself doesn't trouble me in the least. Only how I go.

BTW: I agree with you about ANY individual's limited capacity to truly appreciate the negative outcomes of simplistic and sweeping actions like I described in my OP.

Those were just to give posters an idea of just HOW FAR they could go.

Nukes serve as a powerful deterrent for war. I know.

I was giving folks ideas.

P.S. I'll be out of touch until Sunday night. I'll respond to the rest of your post then.

There also exists another problem in that 1 week is nowhere near enough to create any lasting changes. So you destroy all the guns in the world. Ok, everybody is going to build more once you're gone. So then you destroy the gun making factories. They just build more once you're gone. Then you try and prevent them form being able to do that, and now you're in the infrastructure-breaking zone, which could cause even more damage. So yeah, a week just wouldn't cut it. Although it isn't helped by the fact that you choose a super-powered being who really only has destructive powers, rather than one that could be used to create.

That was my thinkin on this. In order to completely wipe out all modern weapons of mass destruction in the world you need to do more than simply wipe the current ones out. You need to also destroy places where they are manufactured. You need to wipe out the resources used to build them. You need to destroy all knowledge of how to create them which includes outright killin anyone who has even the slightest knowledge of how to make said weapons. Even if you did do all that, it wouldn't really stop it permanently. As soon as your week is up and you die progress can begin again towards new and interestin ways to kill each other.

Uh, have you ever actually had to be in a situation where you were forced to face your own demise? Because if you haven't I highly doubt your statement.

If you have though, carry on.

I have. I was in...danger for a time there. VERY high blood pressure. A nurse warned me that if I didn't lower my blood pressure NOW I was in dire danger of having a stroke/heart attack and dying any day now.

Coming face to face with my own mortality was a sobering affair.

The only regret I'd have if I died would be that I'm the primary helper for taking care of my rather feeble elderly mother.

Death...death itself doesn't trouble me in the least. Only how I go.

BTW: I agree with you about ANY individual's limited capacity to truly appreciate the negative outcomes of simplistic and sweeping actions like I described in my OP.

Those were just to give posters an idea of just HOW FAR they could go.

Nukes serve as a powerful deterrent for war. I know.

I was giving folks ideas.

P.S. I'll be out of touch until Sunday night. I'll respond to the rest of your post then.

On the death subject: Sorry for being a bit cold on that, but I've seen so many people say/write that they're not afraid of death, but of the people I've met very few actually have ever wrapped their heads around that concept. So let me state for the record that you area a braver man than I for not fearing death. Because it terrified me when I had to face it. In fact the only thing that scares me more is the concept of immortality. Try and wrap your head around that dichotomy

On the OP subject: Great to know that you're aware of the ramifications of such. Seriously we do not have enough people who know about that sort of stuff.

However, the medium of text being what it is, I kind of had to take your post at face value, which I'm starting to realize might the main reason why text wars can become so convoluted and lengthy.

Nope, I value my life more then the spur of the moment.Even if I did take the power, I highly doubt I can lived that final week the same way how Superman did from the Allstar Superman graphic novel/ aniamted film.

eh, if i had like a week to research and plan out what i wanted to do, THEN get the super powers, i probably would

although

quick thought:

If I shot some super baby gravy into a female, would the child have a possiblity of inheriting any of the powers? since at that moment, my whole body is considered godly, would they be a demi god?

if so, that would definitely sweeten the deal, leave one hell of a legacy behind.

Besides that, 3rd world taliban/war lords/assholes, you better watch the fuck out, your about to get pulverized, literally.

that or i would just do this to all of them if people cried out about murdering folk.

also, not sure EXACTLY what kind of effect it would have on the earth, but i'd use my laser vision to get rid of a SHIT ton of water on this planet, bunch of bullshit that *70% of the planet is covered in it (i don't remember if that's the exact percentage)

and, i'd obviously go past lightspeed throughout the universe to find/meet new aliens, and if they were evil, for lulz i'd leave them with a speech like this:

I'd be really tempted to destroy all the world governments, reduce all military might back to blades and sharp sticks. I'd also probably go back in time considering it wouldn't take to long to crush the earth's military power to dust.

Big fat No here. Unless I can change human nature, it would be a waste. The absolute best I could hope for is a few genocides just to stop the petty bickering that's always going on. I don't think that's an improvement.

I would take the deal, there's so much I'd do with power like that.Just think of the ways you could change the world.I could write hundreds of novels thousands of technical manuals.I could advance the human race by thousands of years in days.It would be criminal if I didn't.What is my life compared to that ?I'd end religious bigotry, world hunger, destroy thousands of diseases.The possibilities are endless !

Seriously, I would take it, not to have fun on my own, but to solve pretty much all of the world's problems. Stop every single war and crisis and then bite it knowing you directly made the world an oasis? Sure, I'll take it.

How would Superman's powers stop every single war? Could you elaborate how you would use those powers to bring peace?How would you end any other crisis? Hunger? Disease? Lack of clean water? Political corruption? Drug abuse? Rape? Child abuse? Global warming? Pollution? Poverty? Depression? Suicide? Finance crisis? Unemployment?

Could you stop even one of those problems just by using Superman's powers?

OT: Now I don't seek vengeance for anything and I know that if I did an effort into saving people this would only be a temporary solution to any problems I could solve. A week wouldn't be enough to do make a permanent change. Given more time I would consider it.

magicmonkeybars:I would take the deal, there's so much I'd do with power like that.Just think of the ways you could change the world.I could write hundreds of novels thousands of technical manuals.I could advance the human race by thousands of years in days.It would be criminal if I didn't.What is my life compared to that ?I'd end religious bigotry, world hunger, destroy thousands of diseases.The possibilities are endless !

How?

OT: I could destroy everyone who'd wronged me along with any perceived enemies but I haven't had enough fun to give up on life yet. If I could do it when I hit 60 maybe.

Seriously, I would take it, not to have fun on my own, but to solve pretty much all of the world's problems. Stop every single war and crisis and then bite it knowing you directly made the world an oasis? Sure, I'll take it.

How would Superman's powers stop every single war? Could you elaborate how you would use those powers to bring peace?How would you end any other crisis? Hunger? Disease? Lack of clean water? Political corruption? Drug abuse? Rape? Child abuse? Global warming? Pollution? Poverty? Depression? Suicide? Finance crisis? Unemployment?

Could you stop even one of those problems just by using Superman's powers?

OT: Now I don't seek vengeance for anything and I know that if I did an effort into saving people this would only be a temporary solution to any problems I could solve. A week wouldn't be enough to do make a permanent change. Given more time I would consider it.

If we're talking Superman at the top of his game (to quote OP, "at his most ridiculous 'crush a planet with a twitch of his pinkie' levels"), then who's stopping him from taking every missile, gun, and pointed stick in the world?

I'm not going to go into detail on each of those problems, but I will say that if Superman's at a state of God-like powers, there's probably a way.

Seriously, I would take it, not to have fun on my own, but to solve pretty much all of the world's problems. Stop every single war and crisis and then bite it knowing you directly made the world an oasis? Sure, I'll take it.

How would Superman's powers stop every single war? Could you elaborate how you would use those powers to bring peace?How would you end any other crisis? Hunger? Disease? Lack of clean water? Political corruption? Drug abuse? Rape? Child abuse? Global warming? Pollution? Poverty? Depression? Suicide? Finance crisis? Unemployment?

Could you stop even one of those problems just by using Superman's powers?

OT: Now I don't seek vengeance for anything and I know that if I did an effort into saving people this would only be a temporary solution to any problems I could solve. A week wouldn't be enough to do make a permanent change. Given more time I would consider it.

If we're talking Superman at the top of his game (to quote OP, "at his most ridiculous 'crush a planet with a twitch of his pinkie' levels"), then who's stopping him from taking every missile, gun, and pointed stick in the world?

I'm not going to go into detail on each of those problems, but I will say that if Superman's at a state of God-like powers, there's probably a way.

And humans can't create new weapons? Just because you destroy those weapons war will end? People gets killed with rocks, people are killed without weapons and most importantly people can make weapons.

Now let's say you could magically make food. Food spoils. World hunger will continue. Let's say you get rid of corrupt leaders, new corrupt leaders will come. Let's say you could clean up the atmosphere, too much of that would kill us all because we need some of it in order to maintain life, even at safe levels it wont last long.

Criminals always have to fear the law, even criminals knowing they might face the death penalty or life in prison commit crimes so that wouldn't stop either.

Do you have any good suggestions as to how you would end every crisis and every war?

I know for a fact I can accomplish more in a normal lifetime than I can with crazy OP superpowers in one week.

It's therapy combined with the continued threat of Superman that keeps (most) criminals/psychopaths/aliens/whatever in line, not possession (and lack thereof) of weapons and other dangerous materials. Deus ex machina only works in stories and books, at least for a "happily ever after" scenario, and after I'm gone it's only a matter of time before some idiot decides he hates any group of people (all of humanity, all women, his high school football team, that crazy OP superpowered guy who took all the big guns away...) and does something... antisocial. Then another, and another... and eventually, all of my heroic work is undone.

On the other hand, if I use my ridiculous superpowers to destroy everything, then what would have been the point of it all? to experience the utter annihilation of a species or planet? with no-one and nothing left to remember it? It would be as if our planet had never existed... and then, a few billion billion years later (or however long it takes for the monkeys to write Shakespeare), when another random convergence remakes a similar Earth... again, all of my work undone, and nobody will have learnt anything.

Memento mori: remember your mortality. You will die one day. What have you done with your life thus far? I don't believe I've accomplished anything that someone else couldn't have done in my place; even my writings and music probably tread familiar ground. Here's an idea; what if the day before you're given a choice, you find out you have one of the more painful genetic illnesses known to man, which debilitates you, but will allow you to live the next 50-100 years in varying amounts of pain?

Also, yes, Superman at his most ridiculous (that's why we call it ridiculous) was definitely capable of solving these issues and furthering the progress of mankind by millenia. Heck, even capable of altering people's minds & bodies to be more agile, logical, insightful, creative, stronger, heartier, and longer-living. Issues of communication, misinformation, control, opportunity, religion, ideology, insanity, violence, famine (the environment in general, really), and disease would be utterly removed by the end of my week, so people could focus on bettering themselves, moving off-planet, and exploring/populating the galaxy at large. (In fact, why stop at advancing just one species of civilized beings?)

Don't want humanity to have any nukes? Take them. Just take them all and toss them in the sun. At "ridicu-level" power that would take about a few hours.

Think that there are too many guns in the world? Take them or destroy them. ALL OF THEM. This would take you at least a day. Maybe two if you're REALLY thorough. You could destroy humanity's capacity to wage war with modern weapons for years by destroying ALL MILITARY weapons across the world: "I'm not asking you to disarm Mr. NRA representative--I AM disarming you."

Or maybe you want to break things. Go wild--no one and nothing can stop you. You could literally EXTERMINATE all life on earth. Or be picky and kill all the red heads or people with one blue eye and one green eye.

Personally I'm not the least bit afraid of death and, upon reflection, YES, I would take the deal...and get rid of most of the weapons across the planet--especially in the middle east. Wouldn't that be a hoot.

Take the deal...you know you want to...absolute power for a week...

Then you die.

Well, I could always do that going around the Earth thing from the 1978 Superman movie and the end of the week would never come :)